“I don’t know if I’m working on last year’s resolution or this year’s resolution early,” Appenzeller said with a laugh.

Over the last 20 years, Appenzeller said she has religiously resolved to do many things in the New Year: travel more, help out the less fortunate, keep her basement organized and lose weight.

Sometimes she has been successful. She and a group of friends drove an RV across Europe, and this year, she has made a concerted effort to help more people.

But one perennial resolution — weight loss — has eluded her, and Appenzeller, 80 of Springfield, Ill., is not alone.

A recent study found 35 percent of people will break their resolutions by the end of January and only 23 percent will achieve their goals.

Some people see New Year resolutions as a waste of time. Teri McGhee, 42 of Sherman, Ill., said she doesn’t bother setting resolutions.

“I know I’m not going to keep them, so I’m not going to make them,” she said.

But most people habitually set resolutions at the turn of the year, said Dr. Ray Redick, a therapist with Memorial Counseling Associations.

“People want to be optimistic about their futures, and making New Year’s resolutions is a way of believing that things can get better,” he said.

So how can people avoid using their treadmills as a place to hang clothes — or keep making progress toward those other resolutions?

Redick said people who resolve to make a change also must implement a plan with accountability and support.

“We need to focus on what we want to be, not who we are,” he said.

After setting a resolution, write down the plan and share it with your support system.

“Writing it down takes it out of our heads,” Redick said.

After 18 years as a fitness professional, Cindy Kropid has seen a lot of resolutions broken. But Kropid, fitness coordinator at a YMCA, said accountability is the best way to make a resolution stick.

“We all have to be accountable to someone,” she said. “Find someone in the same boat, with the same set of goals.”

Redick said because resolutions are often about breaking a bad habit or starting a new, good one, people must practice doing the new behavior. He said people already do this regularly by going to work even when they might not feel like it.

“If you want something to happen, you have to make space for it,” he said.

Kropid said changing a habit also depends on a person’s state of mind.

“Think of it as more of a healthy lifestyle change,” Kropid said of resolutions involving exercise or weight loss.

Redick warns that while a strict plan may be necessary to achieve results, people also should be flexible. If the gym is closed, find another way to exercise, he said.

“Remain flexible; life happens,” Redick said.

Kropid agreed, reminding people to not get discouraged too early because a habit can take 21 days to take hold.

Once those habits stick and the mountain of debt begins to dwindle, the weight starts to fall off, you cut down your tobacco use or you make progress toward reading more books and fooling around on the Internet less, Redick said it is important for people to reward themselves.

And even if a resolution is derailed a few months later, he said people could always start again. You don’t have to wait until the following New Year to make changes in your life.

State Journal-Register

Why don’t we keep those New Year’s resolutions

* We set unrealistic expectations.
* Our resolutions depend on actions of others (i.e. “to get engaged”).
* We drift away from a resolution at the first sign of a setback.
* We dictate actions based on feelings, not goals.

How to keep this year’s resolutions

* Create a plan tailored to fit you, and write it down so it seems more tangible.
* Set a realistic deadline.
* Identify obstacles — determine who or what may stand in the way of achieving your resolution.
* Build a support system, and make sure your supporters know your goals and have a printed copy of your plan.
* Reward progress.
* If you break your resolution, you can always start again at any time.

Source: Dr. Ray Redick, Memorial Counseling Associates

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